I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to cable coupling mechanisms and relates particularly to a cable coupling mechanism which permits releasing, replacing, and adjusting a motorcycle clutch cable without draining the oil from the clutch housing or removing the clutch cover from the housing.
II. Description of the Prior Art
There are a number of cable coupling devices made which permit the rapid connection and disconnection of a cable from the device being controlled. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,050,327 to Thomas et al the coupling includes a cable core of flexible wires and a sheath in which the core is reciprocally slideable. An anchor fitting is swaged in place over the end of the core which can be placed in a projection of a proper shape and size only when the connector housing is not attached to the sheath member.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,925 to Ion et al a motion transmitting remote control assembly is used which prevents connection of the outer casing members of adjoining mechanical push-pull control sections unless the inner translating core members are connected.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,643,146 to Morse an end connector is used to attach one cable to a second cable with each moving slidably within an outer sleeve to extend within each end of the fitting to a shoulder which will admit and secure the cable ends.
My present device provides an improvement on these devices by providing a means for changing tension on a cable to provide enough slack to permit connecting or disconnecting a cable connector from a mating receptacle. In addition to providing this tension change and connect/disconnect capability, this device also provides a second flexible cable connection from the external control cable to the clutch mechanism to permit removing the control cable without disturbing the motorcycle clutch housing by extending the disconnection point from the clutch to a point outside the clutch housing. This capability is of great practical importance since this allows replacing the clutch control cable without opening the clutch housing. Typically, this cable will fail in use on the road which renders the motorcycle unusable. As a result the motorcycle must either be hauled to a repair shop or the repair must be made on the spot. In the second case, since the clutch housing must be removed in existing devices to replace the clutch cable, the oil in the housing must be drained and replaced and in the process the inner clutch mechanism is inevitably exposed to the dirt, dust and other contamination of the road. These factors make the replacement of the cable a difficult task for the individual cyclist with the existing clutch cable connections which is eliminated with my device.